Eden
by terra hotaru
Summary: Long ago, there was a hidden island, isolated from the rest of the world. There lived a blond with the purest of hearts and then…everything changed when two Outsiders came into his life. AkuRoku, RikuRoku, VenRoku, SoRoku. AU. For illbewaiting.


Long ago, there was a hidden island, isolated from the rest of the world. There lived a blond with the purest of hearts and then…everything changed when two Outsiders came into his life. AkuRoku, RikuRoku, VenRoku, SoRoku. AU. For illbewaiting.

:D –innocent smile- I know, what the heck, right? This sprung up from my love to Roxas. :D Hence, the pairings… o.o It's still undecided to whom he will end up with. We shall see, right?

**Dedication: **Due to the fact of my inability to continue "Simple Words", I decided to make up for it for **illbewaiting**. Sorry, Sule… o.o And thus, I'll leave it to her to decide the ending pairing~. :D Yes, this whole fic is dedicated to **illbewaiting**.

**Special Thanks: **to **Lifes. Lover **for beta-ing and helping me with this chapter. Thanks, Am!!!

Enjoy!

**Eden**

**Chapter 1**

**The twins of Eden**

Metal could be heard clanking in the grassy field that was located in the isolated part of Eden. Sparks could be seen flying every time metal clashed together, creating beautiful, yet at the same time noisy voices that would disturb local inhabitants from their slumber. Hence, that was the reason why the training was held in an isolated part of Eden.

A blond smirked when he saw an opening to which he could finally defeat his twin. In the field, there were two mirror images of each other; two boys of the same size, same face, same figure, and the same hair. The two things that differentiated both of them were the swords they were wielding and the clothes they were wearing.

One boy, wearing a red beret, immediately dodged to the side, being careful of the other's movement as soon as he noticed the smirk that graced the other boy's face. He sidestepped, dashing away from the way that any direct contact could be made to him. The other boy pouted cutely, "Ven." He sighed, unhappy that his plan had been _half _ruined. It was as if his twin was always able to read his mind, yet he had difficulty in predicting that twin of his. "Ventus, you'd better let me win this time!" he hissed.

The other spitting image of the boy merely laughed richly, still holding his play sword that was made of thin metal firmly. He grinned brightly. "I knew you were planning something, Roxas," he said happily.

"You'd better let me win." Roxas narrowed his eyes into mere slits and then he smiled cheerfully, scanning the area with his cerulean eyes, looking for any opportunity and opening that he could find. He was getting tired of losing to Ventus every time they practiced. The natural field and view around him didn't even look beautiful anymore due to his desire to win—and that was highly strange since Roxas always admired beauty and never missed a chance to stare at a beautiful sight. He was lucky that Eden was never missing of the things he loved.

"You really want me to lose _purposefully _to you?" Ventus asked, standing straight, letting his guard down a bit, thinking that Roxas wouldn't be able to do anything due to their distance to one another, hiding his face from view using his red beret.

Roxas smirked darkly when he saw Ventus' movement. Without losing even a single second of opportunity, the blond immediately dashed to the side of his twin. He bent down, taking a fistful of wet mud near him. He grinned, happy that at least the weather cooperated with him. It rained the night before, thus the mud was wet and easy to grab. Shivering a bit at the feeling of the mud, he took care of his handling of the icky liquid, careful so that the mud didn't slip out of his hand.

It all happened so quickly that Ventus was unable to react. Roxas used his right foot to stop himself. It would have produced a loud screech if not for the mud that swallowed the noises. He bent down, postures ready for defense just in case Ventus was able to react to his offence. His sword was held in his right hand, while the mud was in his other. He gave a last smirk before he went in for the attack.

By the time Roxas was about to go in, Ventus had recovered. Roxas' mirrored image immediately stepped backwards, dodging Roxas' attack that should have been too easy to predict by him. His eyes widened when suddenly Roxas raised his left hand and saw the mud that he hadn't notice earlier.

Roxas stuck his tongue out playfully to his twin, and before Ventus was able to react, he threw the mud at Ven's right hand—which was holding the sword—with high power, speed, and accuracy. He grinned brightly, but held himself from getting happy too fast at the sight of Ventus releasing his weapon, surprised. The blond immediately dashed in and kicked the play-sword away from Ventus' reach. Then, he stood up straight, pointing the tip of the sword he was holding at Ven's neck.

"That's cheating," Ven spoke, but with a face that said he was happy that Roxas won.

"Anything to finally be able to beat you in training." Roxas grinned, letting his sword down. His eyes widened in surprise when he saw signs of movement from his twin.

Ventus shifted, balancing himself on his right foot. Swiftly, he whirled and spun around. Before Roxas knew what was happening, his sword had been stolen away by Ven, and it was held firmly against his neck. He gasped, feeling his twin behind him.

Ventus laughed. "Don't let your guard down, Roxas. Enemies have the tendency to strike at your most vital weakness when you let your guard down and when they're cornered," he advised, letting his sword down and releasing Roxas.

Roxas rolled his eyes. "Thanks, Ven," he mumbled unhappily.

Ven put a hand gently on Roxas' shoulder. "Congrats, little bro. You've won today's training," he said happily, taking up his sword and handing the other one to Roxas.

Roxas accepted his sword and smiled. "Thanks," he muttered shyly, still getting used to the fact that he had won and was actually being congratulated by his twin.

"As I've promised… I'm going to learn to cook in Miss Gainsborough's house…and cook for you and Sora," Ven sighed exasperatedly. The last thing that he wanted to happen to his life was to learn to cook. It was such a tedious job and being one of Miss Gainsborough's students wasn't exactly what he had planned happening to his life either. He knew all the stories about it from Roxas and Sora, since they had already studied under Miss Gainsborough years ago.

"Good luck!" Roxas smiled softly, not exactly feeling guilty since it was Sora that made Ventus promise that.

"I'll need that," Ventus sighed once more before the twins laughed together happily.

Afterwards, they went home to clean themselves of the mud.

--

The greens and the hues of white from the sunlight graced the face of the hidden island. Some of the mixture of green and white lights was able to touch the ground, but most were blocked by the vast and thick forests, creating only shadows that protected living things from the heat.

Eden was definitely the most beautiful and untainted place on Earth. However, no one except its inhabitants knew about its existence. According to the legend passed down from generation to generation amongst the Edenians, Eden was the first place that God created during the Creation of the Universe. It was a place where people could acquire happiness, where everything was pure. It was intended for God's beloved creatures to tolerate one another, loving one another, keeping the place pure. Every Edenian lived its fullest to fulfill God's wish.

There was no war in Eden. There was never any conflict, there were no fights. There were quarrels, but they never lasted long, everyone would forgive one another and let the anger and rage go, forgetting any negative energy that had ever graced them and apologizing to one another and also God for having let their emotions get the better of them.

Eden had one leader. It was Ansem the Wise, whom the people referred to as Ansem. Ansem was a wise and talented leader. He was always diligent in taking care of his people and watching out for anything out of the ordinary that would disrupt the peace that had been kept for thousands of years in Eden. He was kind, nice, and always willing to help. He was always there to assist his people whenever problems arose, figuring out the solution to any problems that would make his people panic.

Roxas and Ven were supposedly the next leaders that were to take after Ansem. However, there was news that Eden shouldn't have more than one leader and the Edenians were still deciding on which of the twins should become their leader in case they were going to take over. Roxas and Ven didn't care which of them were to become the leader. They had promised each other that they would stay the same no matter what.

Roxas and Ven were identical. There was almost no way of differentiating both of them. Their eyes were cerulean even though Ven's were darker in color and Roxas' were brighter, resembling the color of the sky. Ventus had a more daring personality and Roxas was more shy and reserved, not willing to socialize more than he should. Both liked challenges and would always protect one another. Roxas was slightly weaker than Ventus since he would avoid conflict whenever possible, but that didn't mean that he would run away from any problems that came to him. Both had strong hearts and will.

Ventus purposefully wore a red beret so that people would see them as two separate entities instead of one. He knew that Roxas was getting sick of being compared with him. He knew that most of the higher elders in Eden considered him as the better twin.

Roxas and Ventus were the twin of Eden. They were the first twin that had ever been born ever since the creation of Eden. Thus, they were given the title and were bestowed upon happiness and wealth by the leader.

They were chattering happily on their way back to the village. Roxas would skip and jump around a little along the way to avoid the puddles that was formed due to the rain. Ventus didn't care and just stepped right over it, ignoring the wetness, didn't mind about the fact that he was getting his boots dirty. Roxas merely stared. He definitely didn't like the idea of getting himself dirty. Sometimes, he wondered why Ventus seemed to never care about any of those little things.

With his brother, Roxas stepped inside the tent that was the residence of Sora. Sora was one of the herb-gatherers of Eden. His task was to go to the forests every day, scaling the mountains and hills in order to gather herbs and make medicines out of the herbs. He was one of the best in Eden. His ability in mixing the herbs and produce medicines with great healing ability was well-known. All Edenians looked up to him and adored him. Even though he was already twenty, his face was still that of a fifteen or sixteen year old. Some even spread rumors that he had been given the Apple of Youth early.

The Apple of Youth was an apple that grew out of the tree of Eden. When an Edenian had reached the age of twenty, he or she would be given the Apple of Youth. This apple bestowed eternal youth and health to whoever that ate it. Immortality was granted to the people of Eden, but that didn't mean that they couldn't die from severe injuries. They were still mortal, to speak, however, they couldn't age. According to history, there was one time when Eden was very populated that diseases started to spread around, killing most of the inhabitants that lived in Eden. The Edenians conducted research, but found no trace of the disease. However, they still held strongly to the facts that if Eden became too populated someday, diseases would strike in order to lessen their population.

"Good morning, Sora." Roxas greeted, watching the spiky haired brunette grinding herbs in the middle of the tent. The smell of herbs and greeneries immediately assault the twin's noses once they were inside.

"Morning," Sora returned brightly, still grinding his herbs. He raised an eyebrow when he saw the twin covered in mud. "Training again?" he smiled.

"We train every day, Sora." Ventus replied, sitting down beside his twin who sat beside Sora.

"Is that the herb for curing gramp's knee pain?" Roxas asked, always the curious one.

"Yes, Roxas. You can tell?" Sora inquired, mildly surprised.

"Yeah, I could smell the fresh scent of basil from the herbs you are grinding and you also have sage leaves there which are useful in treating the pain," Roxas pointed to the table that stood at the corner of the tent.

Ventus blinked. "How… do you know all of this?" he inquired slowly, blinking in surprise, still couldn't believe that he heard such intelligent words coming from his twin's mouth.

Roxas rolled his eyes again, glaring at his spitting image, narrowing his eyes dangerously. "And what do you mean by that?" he asked in a low, dark tone, crossing his arms together.

Ventus stood up and walked over to the table, picking up the sage plant that was resting there, staring blankly at the plant with slightly dark-green leaves with pale purple colored flower. "This is just… your usual everyday plant…" he mumbled, blinking his eyes dumbly.

"That's called sage, Ven. It's a type of herb. It could be used for flavoring and as an herbal medicine for relieving pain if it is turned into oil," Roxas explained calmly.

Ventus blinked yet again. He knew that his twin was smart… but he didn't know that Roxas was _that_ smart. It was almost… terrifying that he didn't know any of what Roxas was talking about. "Hold on a sec…" he narrowed his eyes. "We're twin, right?"

"Ehh?" Roxas looked around, quite taken aback of what Ventus was talking about.

"As a matter of fact, yes, you two are twins," Sora answered, chuckling, having a slight idea of where the conversation would lead.

"How come Roxas…"

Sora cut in before Ventus could finish his sentence. "I taught Roxas quite a bit when you were out training."

"You… learned about herbs?" Ven looked with a disbelieve expression.

Roxas nodded fondly, smiling happily. "It's really quite fun. Can I go with you to gather herbs today, Sora?"

"There are plenty of herbs planted in the garden, so I don't really need to go gather herbs today."

Roxas pouted. "But…"

Sora smiled. "Tomorrow. We can go tomorrow." He grinned brightly. "I have a lot of patients that needed treatments today."

"I can help," Roxas offered.

"Whoa… Roxas! Wait… you choose herbs over me?" Ventus butt in.

"I want to learn more than just fighting, Ven." Roxas reasoned. "Besides, if we ever get hurt, I'll know how to treat us."

Ven bit his lower lip. "Fine," he smiled. "I guess it will be my job to protect you, but you still can't ditch the early every morning training."

Roxas chuckled softly. "I won't. So, can I help you, Sora?"

"I'm sorry to reject your offer, Roxas. But I would also have to meet Ansem… and I don't think it's a good idea to…"

"Oh…" Roxas smiled kindly. "It's okay. I understand. I guess I'll see you tomorrow," he grinned, looking forward to the herb-gathering activity with Sora.

"Thank you for understanding," Sora nodded, grinning brightly.

"It's no problem." Roxas replied.

"So, you have nothing to do for the day. Want to go for another sparring?" Ventus offered.

Roxas thought for a while and he smiled deviously. "No, thank you."

"What?" Ventus whined.

"I'd rather stay inside my room and finish that book I'm reading, thanks." Roxas chuckled, walking out of the tent. "See you tomorrow, Sora!"

"See you tomorrow, Roxas," the herb-gatherer answered.

"Wait, Roxas." Ven chased after his twin, also going out of the tent.

Ventus didn't go to training for the rest of the evening. Roxas was irked all day because his twin had decided to nag him all day, thus rendering it almost impossible to concentrate what he was reading. He was annoyed, but he could never get mad at his twin. Besides, he looked forward to gather herb with Sora the next day. He loved going to the forest, mainly because there were so many beautiful views that he could see in there. All the greeneries and the mix of the natural color were enough to make him smile all day.

--

Done! Hope you enjoyed! And YES! Let's man-whore Roxas! –evillaugh- -shot- xDDD anyway, with all that done with, I do hope you all like this! This is merely the prologue~ and yes, next chapter~ :3 thank you!


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